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Dress Up Your Desserts

October 19, 2009

Dress Up Your DessertsSweet buffets—spreads of cupcakes, pies, brownies, and more—are taking the place of formal cakes at receptions and showers alike. Here's how to add some panache to your collection of treats, starting with cupcakes

written by melissa bigNer photo by Roo Way

“These days we’re getting so many more requests for casual dessert bars than formal wedding cakes,” says Renato Prolifetario of Baked. Last fall, the Brooklyn-based bakery opened its first shop beyond the Big Apple—on Charleston’s East Bay Street. Known for homemade flavors and hip presentations, Renato’s Southern crew concocted a sweet theme for us, perfect for any wedding-related event. (We think they’d be especially tops for a fall or winter fête.) To make the treats even more standout, Charleston’s Sideshow Press gurus added handmade touches to these crafty cupcakes, hot chocolate favors, and spicy brownies. “The extras tied everything together with a cohesive, woodland look,” says Sideshow’s Courtney Gunter Rowland.

Here’s how to dress up your cupcakes. For recipes, the rest of our dessert bar how-tos, and behind-the-scenes photos from our shoot, click here!

1. Press stamp on white ink pad, then imprint pattern on paper. Start in one corner and work your way down in a column (leaving no gaps) to create a continuous wood-grain pattern. Stamp entire sheet and allow to dry.

2. Measure cupcake from the base to the top of the baking cup. Cut as many stamped paper strips as you have cupcakes to that width.

3. Measure circumference of cupcake and cut strips ½-inch longer. Curl the paper into a ring with ½-inch overlap, and seal with double-sided tape placed on the underside of the overlap.

4. Create a 3 ½-inch long and 1-inch wide diamond-shaped flag template. Trace on patterned paper, then, using ruler as a straight-edge, cut out diamonds with an X-acto knife.

5. Gather (and clean) 3-inch long twigs for flagpoles. Place double-sided tape on the blank side of the paper diamond, fold over twig, and press together.

6. Slip stamped ring on cupcake and stake icing with flag.

We had an amazing time at The Charleston Museum's
Aisle Style sneak peek party last Thursday night! Great to meet so many of you there and on the design walk. For photos, and to learn who won our free Bridal Couture Tickets and the Fashion Emergency Kit, please click here to read this week’s blog!

Bridal Tip
of the Week:Even if some elements of your wedding are DIY, consider enlisting a planner/ designer/ coordinator to streamline your budget, keep your Big Day looks cohesive, and ensure that day-of service runs smooth, that everyone’s where they are supposed to be when, and that amid a lot of moving parts, there’s a cool voice of reason to handle come what may.